Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea Announces ‘Helen Burns’ Solo EP

Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea has revealed plans to issue an EP of older solo material that he recorded following a Peppers tour in support of their 2006 album, 'Stadium Arcadium,' but never released. The bassist revealed some details about the disc, which is titled 'Helen Burns,' with a series of tweets he posted Tuesday on his Twitter feed.

"It is obscure arty mostly instrumental music, except when Patti Smith sings," he wrote in one note, referring to the legendary New York punk poetess, who guests. "It is not RHCP music or even close to it. It is a trippy freakout," he added in another tweet.

The EP, which features Flea playing "trumpet, bass, synthesizers, drum machine, piano, and a bunch of other s---," will be available as a digital download for a pay-what-you-wish donation made to the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, Calif.

A deluxe edition of the EP will be available on vinyl for $75 and will come autographed by the bassist, along with a piece of a bass string that Flea himself has used in concert. Details on how to purchase both versions of 'Helen Burns' are expected to be announced by Thursday.

The news of a Flea solo EP may seem like it came out of nowhere, but he did previously mention the material during a 2008 interview with the L.A. Times for a piece about the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, which he co-founded in 2001. "A lot of people have described it as cinematic, like soundtrack music," he said of the album. "It’s not really a commercial enterprise. It’s not going to be on rock radio or anything."